3 Steps for a successful sale

Time for something else today! Below is a summary of an article that my colleague James Edgecombe wrote for a local magazine in the Pyrenées Orientales "Le 66"

It gives a couple of "tips" for people who think of selling their house:

Choose the right estate agent, check out what they will do to market your house...

Good points would be: a track record of selling houses and if possible try to get a reference from other clients! Sufficient experience and a local presence as wel as international reach. Internet is extremely important nowadays - are they making good use of Google (high page rank) and other search engines? And of course you expect high quality advertizing, international as well as national and local.

Present your house in the best possible way...
"Ambiance" is very important! Turn on the lamps, open all the shutters when a visit takes place. The presentation should of course be spotless, so fill-in any cracks and paint over, clean the house, the garden and the pool.
Smell is very important too, if possible have coffee percolating (or bake a bread). In the winter, try to ensure the fireplace is lit and try to arrange visits when the natural light is at its best.

Be prepared to sell…
Make sure the price is correct, create a dossier of information, be ready with “expertises” and ensure your availability for visits.

Not at all bad to think these things through, and as for the first step, "choosing an agency" I am pretty confident that you'll end up with RHF International!!

New office in St Tropez!!

Yesterday, Tuesday the 25th of March, we celebrated the official opening of our St Tropez office! It was a great party, with a lot of clients, friends and colleagues - and champagne, appetizers and our great gypsy houseband... The Mistral was blowing and the sun was shining and everybody had a great time. And as far as location goes: like our Valbonne office it is such a great spot! Next to Hermès and with a great view on the old Marina with the beautiful classics and the enormous luxury yachts and very close to all the shops, terraces and restaurants...

Wanna drop by? Here's the address: 3 Place Celli in St Tropez... More info on the RHF site

Cannes

This picture I made 2 days ago (March the 18th) on the beach of Cannes! I just went there for a lunchbreak (it was sunny and warm). And it was GREAT: people were already swimming in the sea -ok, only the real brave ones, not me!- and this sand-artist was doing his fantastic job!! I have been enjoying it for as long as I could until I had to go back to the (also always sunny) Riviera Home Finders Office in Valbonne. I guess the sand castle is now finished (it is not for sale or we would have it), so if you have the chance - have lunch with your toes in the sand to see it for yourself, it is halfway March and fantastic weather at the Côte d'Azur!!

St Saturnin Les Apt

And yes, RHF's Elayne Murphy did it again... She sold this villa (with a beautiful pool that you don't see in the painting) in the lovely St Saturnin Les Apt in the north of the Luberon.
It is a charming village with less than 2500 inhabitants, that offers a fantastic view on the Luberon. There are a lot of interesting ruins from their Medieval past and it is more than worthwhile for all that - but there is one more great reason to go and visit (or even live there): they are also very famous for their great truffles!

St Tropez

Just so you know - this is silence before the storm... Here in Sunny South of France, all Riviera Home Finders are preparing for the coming months - the agents as well as the artists' team, this spring we will all be busier than ever! Even in these notoriously quiet months we did some selling, for instance this villa in Saint-Tropez... It has a seaview (as you can see - click the picture for more detail) a fantastic overflow pool and it is 500 metres from the beach and 5 minutes from the centre of Saint Tropez. Sounds to me like the perfect place to be!